Entityforms

Overview

The Entityforms module enables you to create front-end forms (fieldable entities), which contain fields that you define! These forms use the standard Drupal fields. This means that out of the box, you can use any standard Drupal node field! As of the time this article was written, there were over three hundred "field" modules. And since Entityforms are "Drupal entities", you will automatically be able to use future "field" modules!

The forms can be used to create custom surveys, petition, and personalized contact forms, and other customized form. (For those of you who have used Webforms, this module brings Webform's functionality into the "standard" Drupal field / entity world.)

As with everything in Drupal, there are Pros and Cons to using Entityform. All though Entityforms is a powerful tool, it is not always the best solution. The article When to Use Entityforms discusses the advantages and disadvantages that Entityforms may have over other methods of creating user "submittable" forms.

The Problem

While Webform is a great module with a huge following, it does not integrate with standard Drupal field or entity aware modules. And while Webform can be integrated into Rules and Views via additional modules, it does add complexity and overhead.

The Solution

To solve these issues, the Entityform module was created. It is a survey creation tool that allows integrates with standard Drupal field and entity aware modules out of the box.

Features

• Ability to attach any Drupal Field to the Forms
• Ability to use most field based and entity aware modules.
• You can download submitted data to XML and / or CSV data files using View Data Export.
• Rules based form submission notifications. Allows for complex notifications logic.
• Rules based form access control. Allows for complex access logic.
• Use Views to create to create an administrative listing of each Entityform type Submissions for fine grain control.

Module Integration

The Entityforms module was written to specifically take advantage of Drupal's Entity API. This feature results in out of the box integration will most other entity aware modules. Here are some of the more notable modules with which Entityforms integrates:

• Date
• IMCE
• Token
• Wysiswyg
• Views
• Views Data Export: For downloading submissions
• Features (Entityforms are exportable)
• Rules: To react to Entityform submissions
• Entity Reference: For embedding Entityforms in nodes and other entities. This also allows you reference other Entities in field submissions.
• And Many More...

Usage

1. Enable the module
2. Go to admin/structure/entityform_types
3. When you enable the Entityform module, it will add the following entries to the Administrative menus:
   • Home » Administration » Structure » Add entityform type
   • Home » Administration » Structure » Import entityform type
   • Home » Administration » Configuration » Content authoring » Entityform settings
   • Home » Administration » Reports » Entityform Submissions

There is complete user documentation available for your convenience.

History

This module was started from the Model Entities module.

Requirements

• Entity API
• Views
• Rules

Author

Ted Bowman
The author can be contacted for paid customizations of this module as well as Drupal consulting and development. Ted also teaches Drupal module development courses online with Six Mile Tech.

Sponsorship

Initial development of this module was sponsored by Blenderbox, Inc. and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. On going development is sponsored by Six Mile Tech

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Dennis Solis for his work on this project as part of the DrupalEasy Career Starter Program

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